Up the Ante
by travellerslover
Summary: An immature bet about Sakura's love life changes the dynamics between her and the Hokage.


**AN So I've been thinking about this for a long time. It's very very very loosely based on a fanfiction I wrote about four years ago. I noticed the **_**Are you 18 yet? **_**themed posts on tumblr and decided now was as good a time as any to post this.**

**Please R&R! xoxo**

**I.**

Ever since Haruno Sakura turned eighteen, people had been treating her differently. It wasn't necessarily that she looked any different, because she was just as pretty as she'd ever been, but the baby fat that once rounded out her features had all but melted away by her eighteenth birthday, revealing soft angles and high cheekbones.

Nobody could deny that Sakura had always been beautiful, though. Only now things were different. Sakura, however, was very reserved. She wasn't shy and she no longer had rose colored delusions about the world, but, to the untrained eye, exploring and understanding her sexuality was nowhere near the top of her list of priorities.

So, the reason why Sakura's eighteenth birthday was a day to be recognized is because at that age she became obtainable. It was an unspoken rule in the shinobi world not to pursue anyone under eighteen, unless they came to you first and even then it was frowned upon. But, the moment she blew out the eighteen candles on her birthday cake and closed her eyes to make a wish, it was as though every male, and more then a few females, looked at her differently. She became an object of desire.

However, the last thing Haruno Sakura wanted was to be an object of anything. So, whenever she found herself treated as one, she usually took it upon herself to seek retribution. The naive or entitled called her crazy, her friends called her dramatic, everyone else didn't dare say a word.

...

"Has anyone actually had sex with her yet?" Genma asked, sipping his beer as he watched Sakura's head tip back in a raucous laugh. "I mean, I'm mean no disrespect," he directed to Kakashi, who had so graciously offered up his time for a night out with his friends; he was giving Genma a warning glare. "I'm serious. She's the total package and if anyone were dating her, they would brag. I've heard no bragging."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Has it ever occurred to you that she simply doesn't want to have sex with any of you morons?"

"But Kakashi!" Gai jumped in. "How can she possibly understand the beauty in life without partaking in the splendors of the flesh?"

"There's a pool going," Genma continued, ignoring Gai's outburst.

"A pool?" Kakashi asked, his eyebrow raising in interest.

Genma nodded, an eerie smirk on his face. "It's about with whom Sakura is going to sleep. You were voted in, you know. And a _lot_ of people have money riding on you."

Kakashi was thankful that he only had to remove his mask for the ceremony and the monument's sculpture, otherwise it would be impossible to hide his shock. "You guys are aware that I'm in charge of your missions, ergo your paychecks, right?"

Genma scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I'm your personal guard. If you took me off the payroll, then you'd have to hire someone else and that's far more paperwork than you care to do."

"Do you honestly believe I do my own paperwork?" Kakashi deadpanned.

Gai gasped. "I cannot believe that you are sucking the youth from your students! It is most dishonorable!"

And it was. Kakashi knew it. But what's the point of having students who worship you of you can't squeeze a little paperwork out of them every now and then?

"But Gai," Genma cut in. "They have plenty of years left with which to be young. Kakashi not so much. If anything he's teaching them the importance of respecting their elders with honest, hard work. What could make them appreciate their youth more than that?"

Tears were streaming down Gai's face and Kakashi turned his head away from the affectionate display and let his gaze settle on the woman who spurred this entire ludicrous conversation.

She had changed so much in the years he'd known her. Her expression was just as honest and open, but now it was softer and more forgiving. _She_ was softer and more forgiving. Or so he'd heard, Kakashi never saw a lick of it.

Obviously feeling someone's eyes on her, Sakura scanned the bar until her jade-green orbs zeroed in on him. Her face lit up in a sweet smile and Kakashi sighed. If only she knew how much paperwork she was going to file for him tomorrow.

...

He was exhausted. Stress and lack of sleep were taking their toll. He didn't have the energy for her attitude.

She was standing in front of his desk looking every bit as scary as Tsunade ever had, living up to her epithet. A quick glance at her attire told him that she wasn't carrying many weapons; she was wearing her casual clothes. Of course she still had a pack wrapped securely around her thigh, but that wasn't so bad.

It was her expression and her gait that had him sitting up a bit straighter. Leaning to one side with her long, slender fingers grasping her hips. Her chin-length hair had fallen into her face, casting shadows that sharpened her features. And the smile, oh god the smile, was the worst, saccharine and tight, the right corner just barely twitching with concealed rage.

"Hokage-_sama_," Sakura started, her voice dripping with feigned deference. "I was under the distinct impression that you were giving me a mission. It's Naruto's turn to do your filing. Not mine."

Kakashi shrugged, albeit a bit jerkily. "He's on a diplomatic mission in Suna. You know that, Sakura-chan."

"Of _course _I know that because I was supposed to go with him, you insensitive brute! But _no_! You send Sasuke! Easily the most dislikable shinobi on the planet!" Her shoulders were rising and falling rapidly as a look of pure horrified shame splashed across her face. Immediately, she bowed down to a perfect right angle and apologized.

"Sakura. Stand up," sighed Kakashi. "Naruto isn't great with paper-pushing and Sasuke finds the task so far beneath him that even _Naruto_ does a better job. You just got back two days ago from a tough mission and neither of them have left the village in months. Surely you see my logic," he paused, his eyes smiling. "Besides, you're my favorite and you do such lovely work. Why wouldn't I choose anything but the best?"

She gave him a confused look and let her eyes wander around the office, clearly in search for something. "Has the job already driven you to drink? Are you going stir-crazy?"

He frowned. "Sometimes I compliment people, Sakura."

"No, you don't. It's weird. Stop it."

"Okay, I don't normally do it out loud, but I compliment you all the time."

Now it was her turn to frown. "It doesn't count if I don't hear it, Sensei."

"Don't call me sensei. Now, I'm paying you so just read those files and sort them from least to most important, then when you're finished I'll tell you what to do next."

Sakura was clearly struggling with her conscience. She didn't have the clearance to look at these files, but Kakashi disarmed her anxiety by giving her the closest thing to puppy-dog eyes he could manage, which was much easier with two eyes, he'd found.

Kakashi doing paperwork was surely a poetic justice. Years of turning in his mission reports late, not at all, or with little to no detail had definitely come back to haunt him. He was on his fiftieth report and it was the worst thing he'd read in his entire life. No wonder Tsunade and Sarutobi had been in a constant state of annoyance around him.

When the words began to bleed together and lose their meaning, Kakashi would let his tired eyes trek over to Sakura. She was biting her lip in such a way that even Kakashi felt the strange pull towards her that so many men seem to struggle with these days. His mind wandered to the previous night when he'd heard about the pool. He scowled in disgust. Call Kakashi old-fashioned, but he found that fantasizing over an eighteen year-old to be rather inappropriate, especially someone he witnessed go through puberty. A shudder tore up his spine and Kakashi shook the feeling away.

Yet, even as he came to these conclusions, Kakashi couldn't stop the way his gaze always found its way over to her. He blamed Genma. Why would he bother telling Kakashi such a thing? And why, out of all the eligible men in Konoha, had his name come to the top of the bet's list? Did people really believe he would sink so low? Did they have such little respect for him that they just _assumed _he would sleep with his newly-legal former student? Sakura _had _warned him that reading _Icha Icha _in public gave him a bad image.

"Hokage-sama? Kakashi-sama? _Kakashi!"_

Kakashi jerked in his seat and realized he was now staring at Sakura's stomach. He dragged his eyes up to meet her own and gave her a sheepish smile. "Yes, Sakura-chan?"

"No wonder you need our help. You're too busy day dreaming," she reprimanded. Then, her expression softened into one of her rare displays of concern for him. "Are you getting enough sleep?" She pressed the back of her hand to his forehead and yanked it back immediately. "Oh my god, Kakashi! You're burning up!"

He tilted his head to the side. '_I am? I suppose I have been rather dazed today.' _He stared at her, waiting for her to say something when he realized that he hadn't answered her out loud. "I'm fine, Sakura-chan."

She shook her head vehemently. "No. You're too old to get a fever like the one you have now. It's dangerous. I'm going to go get my medical supplies. I'll be right back."

In a whoosh of papers, she was out the door and Kakashi could only gaze in confusion at the spot she'd just been standing. Too old? That's preposterous. However, the moment he stood up, the pain and nausea crippled him. Every joint was aching. When was the last time he'd been ill? Twenty years ago?

...

As the last remnants of a heated, confusing dreams began to fade away, he heard her. Kakashi couldn't remember how he'd gotten onto his couch, let alone half-dressed and sporting a recently changed cold compress on his forehead, but he wasn't going to ask any questions. Getting a couch for his office had been the best present he'd ever received. Sakura could always be so thoughtful.

He thought of opening his eyes and alerting her to his presence in the world of the living, but paused when he realized that she was talking on the phone. The phone in his office was a direct line to the other Kages, and his blood began to boil at her audacity for using it. But, curiosity won in the face of anger.

"No, I'm sorry Darui-san, but Hokage-sama is in a meeting with the village elders, but I do believe he should be back any minute now." Her voice was hushed, tone professional. He barely opened his eyes to see her expression and nearly laughed when he realized that she was blushing. The flush of her skin made her cheeks and ears glow incandescent.

"No, I'm not sure when I'll be on another mission to Kumogakure." She gasped suddenly, her eyes darting around the room as if to make sure no one had heard, and she covered her eyes with her hand. "I have to go, Darui-san. I'll be sure to have Kakashi-sama call you back directly. Yes... Thank you.. Alright.. Bye."

Kakashi was on her in a second. Despite having been shed of his mask, Hokage robe, and long sleeve shirt, he knew he looked every bit as menacing. "Making personal calls on my phone, Sakura-chan? Do you have a death wish or do you simply live for danger?"

She almost rolled her eyes, but stopped halfway and had the decency to look ashamed. "No, Hokage-sama, but the phone kept ringing and I was worried that if no one answered.. I just..." She stood up and bowed, "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama. I was merely trying to do what's best for the village."

"Calm down, Sakura, and check my vitals so I can do what little work there is left to be done."

He sat back down on the couch and watched curiously as she went through the motions of checking him over, her fingers shaking as though she were expecting some harsh punishment. Why was she so nervous? What _had _she been discussing on the phone with the Raikage's assistant?

As she ran her fingers over his bare neck, feeling for swollen lymph nodes, Kakashi noticed that Sakura's hands were trembling badly. He frowned, fully aware that she could see his expression.

"Sakura, why are you so anxious around me?" he gently asked, earning him an immediate flush of her cheeks.

Her hands dropped into her lap and she stared at her fingers, unconsciously twisting them into her red dress. "What are you talking about?" she mumbled, clearly embarrassed.

Kakashi hooked a finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to meet his own, her eyes focusing on everything but his bare face. "Sakura, don't insult my intelligence."

"It's just.." Her shoulders sagged tiredly. "It's been over a year and I still don't know how to behave around you. You don't want me calling you Kakashi-sensei, but every time I call you by the appropriate honorific, you visibly stiffen. I just feel lost. When I act like myself, I put my foot in my mouth because the familiarity is disrespectful, but when I attempt reverence, it feels unnatural, not that I don't revere you, it's just... Ugh.. Naruto and Sasuke still call you sensei.." she trailed off finally, realizing she had been rambling.

Kakashi sighed. Of course she was confused. "Sakura, I never felt like your teacher and I considered you an equal long before I did your teammates. How about when we're alone you call me Kakashi, and in public you call me Hokage-sama. Okay?"

She bit her lip and Kakashi felt guilty for letting her wade through these unfamiliar waters for so long without any help. "Okay," she smiled. "By the way, you have the flu. I'm surprised you're even sitting up straight. You should be out cold."

"I'm tough," he started, acutely aware of how miserable he actually felt, "but I got this feeling that my assistant was abusing her privileges to flirt with other Kage assistants."

Sakura smirked. "Jealous?"

"Naturally," he returned the smirk, ignoring the way her pupils dilated at the sight, and yanked his mask up over his mouth. "Now get back to work and wake me up at eight o'clock."

Kakashi didn't fall asleep immediately, instead he laid on his back and watched Sakura through his half-mast gaze. Her fingers moved left to right, front to back, making notes on the mission reports and his schedule book with her no doubt perfect handwriting. The repetitive motions lulled him into a vegetative state, bringing up hazy images from his previous dream.

Fingers. Long, slender fingers danced across his chest and stomach, caressing his neck and face like a soft whisper. He recognized those fingers. Just before he gave in to the feathery touches of his dreams, his eyes glanced unfocused at his pink-haired former teammate. She was giving him the strangest of smiles. With a tinge of confusion threading through his thoughts, sleep claimed him.


End file.
